Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion: Third Genesis ❯ Chapter 7

Evangelion Third Genesis: Part Six

Taking a good look all around Ritsuko pushed her blonde hair out of her face and said with a dramatic sigh, "Things really are a mess down here."

"Yes, Sempai," Maya quietly agreed with her, the shorter brown haired woman having been following behind Ritsuko most of the day to take notes of their little tour of the engineering wing of the city of Tokyo-3.

The two surviving EVAs were almost useless, putting it simply. The EVA-02 was still mostly just a pile of mis-matched wreckage, only partially reassembled from it's near dismembering by the mass production EVAs. EVA-00 was in better shape, but with the pilot's condition so... nebulous, it didn't really matter very much.

Ritsuko shook her head irritably, "I just wish we had more members of the original repair teams available. Right now, we're having to train the new guys almost as much as they're doing the actual repair work."

"Do you want me to get on the phone," Maya offered quietly, "see if I can talk more of the NERV techs into coming back to work?"

"Do you think you can?" Ritsuko asked her gently.

Maya thought about how bad and crazy things had gotten during the battle of NERV, and sighed softly. "Probably not," she admitted.

Ritsuko put her hand firmly on Maya's shoulder as she said, "We'll just have to manage with what we've got available, then."

Maya blushed brightly even as she squeaked out, "Yes, Sempai!"

Ritsuko flipped her call open and dialed, "Misato? We'll have a full report for you by the end of the day, but It's a mess down here."

In another part of the massive complex, Misato closed her phone with a weary sigh. Sitting at her desk she went back to reading a series of reports, developing an odd expression on her face. The black haired woman held up the sheets of paper, "You're telling me that Rei Ayanami tests out as being entirely human?"

The civilian expert that NERV had called in for a second opinion nodded her head firmly, her own blue hair falling into her eyes, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"And the blue hair?" Misato asked wryly.

The woman shrugged at her, "Personally, I was born with it too. If it helps any, that and a few other odd hair colors are prevalent only in Japan, though we're still trying to find out why that genetic variation exists here."

"Because of Adam, maybe?" Misato asked.

"I wouldn't want to speculate before we've acquired all the facts," she said to Misato just a little bit reproachfully.

Misato dropped the reports down on the table before she stood up and shook the doctor's hand. "Well, thank you very much for your help, Professor Mizuno," she said with a smile. It wasn't the doctor's fault that she had stuck them with another problem..

Ami Mizuno shook it firmly as she smiled back at the commander of NERV, "I hope I'll be able to continue to help you. I made sure to leave my office number with your staff, so please call me if anything else interesting comes up." With that, the woman in the expensive suit turned and walked away with a smooth stride.

"Now what do I do," Misato sat back with a sigh. A few moments later there was a knock on the door and she called out, "Yes?"

"It's me," Asuka said as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. The redhead looked good in her NERV uniform, almost like a real military officer. "So what did Prof. Mizuno say?" she asked Misato curiously. She flopped down onto one of the long couches of the office, for a moment looking like a teenager again.

The gaze from Asuka's right eye could be quite piercing, Misato found herself noting. Speaking aloud she said to the girl, "The results were about what we were expecting. It appears that this Rei is fully human."

Asuka leaned toward Misato with a frown, "But why would Gendo create a human version of Rei? Didn't he need the alien part of Rei to try and control Adam?"

"I wish I knew," Misato sighed. She smiled at Asuka grimly, "I've been working through Gendo's personal files to try to find out, but many of them are double or even triple encrypted. If Ritsuko wasn't so busy with the EVAs, I'd ask her to help me out."

"So what do we do now?" Asuka asked curiously.

"For now, we carry on as planned," Misato shrugged. "How ready are you to move back in with me?" she asked Asuka.

"I'm all packed and ready to go," Asuka looked honestly relieved. She hesitated slightly before asking, "And Rei's stuff?"

"The previous Rei didn't have much stuff," Misato said quietly, "and to be honest I'm not to sure if we should pass them on to our Rei." Asuka raised an eyebrow and she explained, "So far, she seems to be a mostly blank slate. This is a second chance for her, and I don't know if giving her things from the last Rei will help any."

"What about clothes?" Asuka asked her, "I mean, all she's got to wear right now is that NERV uniform she was given yesterday."

Misato looked over at Asuka thoughtfully to judge her size of clothing, "I guess your stuff wouldn't fit her too well."

"Oh, no," Asuka quickly protested, "I am NOT sharing my clothes with her!"

"The I guess we'll have to take her out and go shopping for clothes," Misato sighed softly. Under her breath she muttered, "I hate shopping."

Asuka smirked, "At least it isn't going to be your money we'll be spending. We can charge everything for Rei to NERV."

"Heh, that's true," Misato chuckled softly. She got up from behind her desk, making sure not to bump her stitches even as Asuka bounced to her feet. "So where is Rei, anyway?" Misato asked her as they left the office and strode down the hallway.

"She wanted to try out the EVA simulator so I left her down there," Asuka said with a smile as they took the elevator downstairs.

After a short walk down another hallway Misato opened up the door and blinked in surprise at the young woman looking wide-eyed at the readouts on the control panels in front of her. She was sort of cute with her long black hair, but the most distinctive feature that she had were the massive round glasses that she wore.

"Ma'am!" Nako popped to her feet and saluted.

"Hi, Nako," Asuka said with a casual wave as she walked over to look in at Rei sitting in the simulator cockpit.

Rei's dark blue hair fell into her red eyes, which were visibly narrowed in concentration. A bit of red colored her cheeks, and she actually looked kind of... excited. Asuka wasn't too sure, but it actually looked like Rei was enjoying herself!

Misato was watching Rei intently, her expression nearly unreadable. "How's she doing?" she asked Nako curiously.

"Great!" Nako beamed, "She's actually matching some of Miss Asuka's best scores!"

"Not bad," Asuka murmured with a smile.

"Simulators are one thing," Misato mused, "actual combat is a very different story. What will happen when we put her in an actual EVA?"

"We'll find out when it happens," Asuka said firmly. She gave Misato a look, "We're not going to put her in Unit-00 until she's ready, right?"

Misato felt a bit of surprise at Asuka's concern for Rei, but she masked it well. "I won't put her in an EVA until I'm confident she can handle it," Misato agreed. She bent forward to say into the microphone, "Rei, we're ending the simulation in a moment."

"Hai," Rei answered, executing a roll to blast the final simulated opponent.

It took only a few moments to shut the simulator down and for Rei to exit the chamber. She looked pretty good in the plug-suit, the skin tight garb clinging to each and every curve. Asuka blushed faintly, looking down to avoid Rei's gaze.

Misato smiled at Rei cheerfully, "How'd you like to go shopping?"

"Shopping?" Rei blinked, looking at her quizzically.

To be continued...

Author's Note: Yes, that's Ami Mizuno of Sailor Moon fame. By 2017 or so, I figure that she'd be a professor and have a string of degrees, so why not... And Nako of Steel Angel Kurumi 2 is back from her appearance in episode two.